


Hell's Kitchen

by Redskybluecherry



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, One Shot, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 18:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20911880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redskybluecherry/pseuds/Redskybluecherry
Summary: He was definitely attractive, sure. Just your type, too. And from what you’d seen of his work in the kitchen, he was a more than capable and creative chef, and put his heart and soul into his work, something you admired in a person.But you knew men like Sanji, and you didn’t want anything to do with them.





	Hell's Kitchen

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a huge fan of basically any show involving Gordon Ramsay (or "Graham", as he's called here :D), so i've had this idea for a while now.

Ever since you’d been a child, you’d had an affinity for delicious food, restaurants and the culinary arts in general. You couldn’t pinpoint when exactly your fascination and passion for cooking had started, but you could remember helping out your grandmother in the kitchen and being desperate for her to tell you about all of her secret recipes when you were younger.  
  
Now, you had actually managed to turn your passion into your profession. But even though you liked your job as a sous-chef at a well-renowned restaurant in your hometown, you still had bigger aspirations. So, after a lot of encouraging from your family and friends – your grandma in particular, who was still your most vocal and avid supporter – you’d taken a risk and had applied for a spot on “Kitchen Purgatory”, one of the biggest cooking competitions broadcasted on television.  
  
You’d sent in your résumé as well as a small video of what the prize of the competition – a head chef position at a huge restaurant in Las Vegas and a cash prize of 100,000 dollars – would mean to you, and then, you had waited.  
  
Even though you’d known how unlikely it was to actually get selected for the show, you hadn’t been able to stop the intense feelings of anticipation and excitement when a small letter with the famous logo of the show – the initials “KP” – on it had arrived. Those feelings had quickly turned into pure joy and ecstasy when you’d opened the letter and found out you had actually been accepted.  
  
Finally, you had been one step closer to the biggest chance of your life.  
  
Now, after weeks of awaiting the date and intense preparations, you were finally here, at the set of "KP". Since it was a reality competition, all of the contestants slept in the same dorms – with male and female contestants separated, naturally.  
  
You shared a room with two other female contestants named Nami and Robin, who you’d both gotten acquainted with already and who were both nice enough.  
  
Every other day, a challenge was held, in which all contestants would participate in individually, tasked with assignments such as cooking a specific dish to perfection. On the day following the challenges, dinner service would take place.  
The huge filming area also contained a massive kitchen and a fully functioning restaurant, and it was the task of all contestants to complete the dinner services while being closely monitored by the two judges of the competition.  
  
If someone would do badly on either the challenge or fail at dinner service, they’d be eliminated from the competition. Thus, every week someone was going home, and the competition was intensifying.  
  
It had been two weeks since you’d arrived, meaning two fellow contestants had already had to pack up their stuff and go back home. Last week, a male chef had been eliminated for sneaking into the kitchen at night and eating up all the supplies, falling asleep with a face full of food afterwards – you still couldn’t believe that had actually happened.  
  
So far, you’d done fairly well, earning some compliments from the judges. You had yet to win a challenge or stand out at dinner service, though, something which annoyed you greatly.  
  
Especially because the person who had won all challenges thus far was the only fellow contestant in the entire cast you just **could. not. stand.**  
  
His name was Sanji, and while he was excelling at the competition, he was also one of most shameless flirts you’d ever come across. Since the day all of the contestants had arrived, he’d proceeded to hit on and/or swoon over basically every woman catching his eye. Not even the female members of the camera team were safe from his _ministrations_.  
  
Most of your fellow female contestants just didn’t take the man seriously, either laughing off his attemps at wooing them or using them to their personal gain – since Sanji often offered to do the objects of his affection a favor, such as bringing them something cool to drink so they wouldn’t have to walk themselves or carrying their bags for them.  
  
You didn’t really now if the guy was either hoping to win over some of the women in hopes of prolonging his stay in the competition, or if he was just a typical playboy, but either way, you couldn’t stand him in the slightest.  
  
That’s why you were the only one not responding to his compliments at all – you’d either ignore him or outright brush him off.  
  
He was definitely attractive, sure. Just your type, too. And from what you’d seen of his work in the kitchen, he was a more than capable and creative chef, and put his heart and soul into his work, something you admired in a person.  
  
But you knew men like Sanji, and you didn’t want anything to do with them. They’d treat women like fragile, delicate things, until they’d actually charmed their way into their panties – afterwards, they’d just discard them and move their attention elsewhere.  
Maybe it was a bit unfair of you to judge him simply based on what you’d seen of him thus far, but you’d witnessed too many of your friends endure heartbreaks because of men who behaved exactly like Sanji to give him the benefit of the doubt.  
  
The worst about it all, though, was that your standoffish behavior didn’t discourage the blonde at all. On the contrary – it seemed to spur him on, making him pay more and more attention to you compared to the other girls. On top of that, you were the only smoker amongst the participants besides Sanji, which inadvertendly led to even more unwanted one-on-one time with him.  
  
Naturally, his desperate attempts at getting your attention and your growing annoyance hadn’t gone unnoticed by your roommates, who’d proceeded to tease you mercilessly about it.  
  
Nami had already speculated about when you’d _“finally put him out of his misery”_ and whether your future children might _“inherit his eyebrows”_.   
Sometimes, you admired yourself for not turning into a misanthropist with so many idiots around.  
  
The third dinner service had taken place today, and since all of the contestants had done well, pushing out both appetizers, main courses and deserts to grateful diners without any mistakes, the judges had decided no one would be eliminated this evening.  
  
After almost 3 exhausting hours of working your butt of in the kitchen, you figured you’d more than earned your first cigarette of the night, quickly excusing yourself and making your way into the inner yard of the building to indulge in your guilty pleasure.  
  
Everyone else was inside, drinking champagne and celebrating the successful night, but you weren’t in the mood. So far, things had been going smoothly, sure, but there was way too much at stake for you to be able to let loose or relax. For as long as you could remember, you’d dreamed of an opportunity like this, and you certainly wouldn’t endanger it by becoming distracted.  
  
Taking another drag from your cigarette, you noticed the weather had changed during the day, and it had become quite cold outside. Trying to surpress a shiver, you inwardly scolded yourself for not having picked up your jacket before going outside.  
  
Suddenly, you heard the door open beside you, making you hold back an exasperated groan as you didn’t even need to look to know who it was.  
  
_Freaking Sanji._  
  
“Oh my beautiful (Y/N)-chan, how wonderful to see you here!”  
  
_Instant eyeroll._  
  
Not noticing your annoyance, he walked over to you, lighting a cigarette himself before saying: “It’s quite cold, (Y/N)-chan, I don’t want you to get sick. Please, take my jacket.” Not awaiting your answer, he had already started to take his black jacket off, but you quickly put up your hand to stop him.  
“It’s fine, thanks.” You said.  
He might have been annoying, but it was still polite of him to ask, so you tried not to sound too hostile.  
  
“But (Y/N)-chan, I couldn’t live myself if you got sick even though I could’ve helped it! Please, just-“  
“I said NO!” you let out, not even trying to mask the hostility and anger this time.  
If there was one thing you hated about self-proclaimed “gentlemen” like Sanji, it was that they wouldn’t take no for an answer. The more you saw of him, the more he fit the type of man you’d initially categorized him as.  
  
“I’m sorry, (Y/N), I didn’t want to upset you.” He said, seemingly taken aback by your reaction. “If I can do anything for you, just-“  
“Actually, you can, Sanji.” You said, and by the excited look on his face at your words, you could tell he hadn’t noticed the barely conceiled sarcasm in your fake-friendly-voice. “Take a hint and leave me alone from now on, yeah? The other girls may be fooled by your façade, but I’m not buying it nor am I interested.”  
  
The shocked look on his face almost made you feel bad. He looked like he actually had no idea what you were accusing him of. But you were way too smart to fall for the show he put on. Now that he knew he actually didn’t have a chance with you, he’d soon move his attention back to the other girls. You were sure of it.  
  
Without awaiting an answer from him, you put out your cigarette and made your way back inside, leaving behind a very dumbfounded Sanji.  
  
  
  
**A few days later…**  
  
  
“A great head chef not only has to be able to cook appetizers and entres to perfection, but also has to be able to put out amazing deserts. So for today’s challenge, each one of you is going to create one stunning desert. There are no limits to your creativity, so long as the dish is unique, high-class, and meets our standards. You’ll have 45 minutes to prepare your dishes, after which we will judge each dish on a scale of 1 to 5. And since we want to make it extra competitive, we will divide you into men vs. women. Whichever group wins gets to spend the day however they like, while the other team will have to clean up and prep the kitchen for tomorrow night's dinner service. Understood?” your main judge said as all of you stood before him, clearly on the edge and excited to begin on the assignment.  
  
“Yes, chef!” you all answered unanimously.  
  
“Then the time starts – now!”  
  
You were grateful you had already come into the competition expecting a challenge like this and therefore had a fitting recipe at hand, because for the last few days, you’d repeatedly been distracted. And as usual, the cause of your distraction had been _him_.  
  
But unlike before, it wasn’t Sanji’s overtly flirtatious or perverted behavior that was distracting you, no – it was the _lack thereof_.  
  
For the last few days and the ongoing morning, Sanji had behaved like an entirely different person. He not only hadn’t flirted with any woman present, he also hadn’t ogled them or swooned over them like he had before.  
  
It was all very confusing to you - you couldn’t seem to stop wondering why he’d changed. Said confusion soon led to being angry with yourself for thinking about the man in the first place.  
  
While you were working on your dish, you overheard some of the other male contestants mock Sanji about his change of demeanor, and subtly tried to eavesdrop to satisfy your curiousity and thereby hopefully rid yourself of any thoughts about the blonde chef.  
  
But what Sanji said only encouraged your confusion.  
  
“I’m just trying to behave like a normal adult so no one gets a wrong impression about me.”  
  
_Wrong impression? Was he- he couldn’t be referring to your conversation from the other night, right? No. Definitely not. And even if he was, this was probably all still part of his “game”.  
  
(Y/N), stop being distracted and get your head back in the game!_  
  
You sighed. This was exactly what you didn’t want to happen in the first place.  
  
45 Minutes later, all the deserts had been tasted and judged, and – _surprise, surprise_ – Sanji had once again gotten a perfect score, leading the men to a victory.  
And now, you were going to have to work for the rest of the day while he could go off to do whatever he wanted – probably check out some more girls at the nearest beach, or something. It certainly sounded like that’s where his fellow teammates were headed.  
  
But before all of them left, Sanji called out to them, telling them he was staying behind to spend the day on set.  
  
“Here?” one of the other male contestants asked. “Why the hell would you stay in here when they just said we can do whatever we want?”  
  
“That’s exactly what I’ll be doing. You guys have fun.” Sanji answered, waving them off while drawing some confused glances from broth his teammates as well as you and the rest of the girls.  
  
After the other female contestants and you had spent the day enduring your “punishment” of cleaning the restaurant to prepare it for tonights dinner service, you went for a cigarette, needing some time alone.  
  
Your break was soon interrupted, however, and by none other than the person who’d unknowingly dominated your thoughts the entire day – Sanji. But instead of his usual suave behavior, he seemed to be on edge as he greeted you.  
  
Before you could ask him what was going on, he pulled out a small plate from behind his back. On it was a replication of the desert with which he’d won the challenge today, but it looked even more oppulent and nicer than before. He had probably spent all afternoon working on it.  
  
“I-It’s for you. _Specifically_ for you, (Y/N)-chan. I wanted to show you that-“  
  
“Did you even listen to me the last time we talked?” you huffed, interrupting him.  
  
Clearly, Sanji either hadn’t done so or at least hadn’t wanted to, since he’d ignored your wish of leaving you alone and had once again tried to charm his way into your pants (at least that’s how you saw it). You’d initally thought he might’ve changed, but now it was clear to you that that wasn’t the case. He’d most probably already given the other girls their share of the desert, and now you were the only one left.  
  
“(Y/N)-chan, please, at least taste it, I swear, I don’t expect-“  
  
Without giving him a chance to continue, you quickly grabbed the little spoon on the plate, shoving some of the dessert in your mouth before quickly spitting it out.  
  
“There, I tasted it, happy? It was disgusting! Now leave me alone!” you shouted.  
  
The moment the words left your mouth you already realized you’d gone too far.  
  
He looked devastated, like your words had genuinely hurt him.  
You didn’t like that expression, you wanted him to go back to normal, charming, annoying Sanji. The fact that you’d lied about his desert didn’t make things any better.  
It had tasted delicious.  
  
You mentally contemplated how to apologize, but he spoke before you had the chance. His voice was low and he sounded absolutely defeated.  
  
“I’m sorry you didn’t like it (Y/N)-chan. Clearly it wasn’t good enough for your standards. I’ll leave you alone, as you wish.”  
  
And with that, he went back inside, leaving you to wallow in your guilt and shame.  
  
Maybe you’d truly misjudged him.  
  
Maybe he wasn’t actually a bad guy.  
  
Either way, what you’d done was horrible and you needed to apologize, that much was clear.  
  
Going back to your room, you passed Nami in the hallway.  
“Hey (Y/N), did Sanji give you his desert?”  
  
_Ah, so you had been right and he’d indeed prepared one for every girl. How stupid of you to think that-_  
  
“He actually asked Robin and me which flavours you might like the most beforehand. He said he wanted it to be a special surprise for you, isn’t that sweet? So, you two buried the hatchet or what?”  
  
_Oh no_.  
  
You hadn’t just misjudged him, you’d _greatly_ misjudged him. Now you felt even worse than before.  
  
And why was heart suddenly beating faster?!  
  
It was all too much. You had to fix this situation before it got even more out of hand. You’d apologize to Sanji as soon as possible, and then you’d finally be able to stop thinking about him... _Right?!_  
  
  
  
  
**The next evening...**  
  
  
You hadn’t been able to catch a hold of Sanji the entire day, leaving you no choice but to confront him right before dinner service. Hopefully everything would go well, so the both of you would be able to concentrate on the task at hand afterwards.  
  
“Uhm, Sanji?” you asked him as he was passing you on the way to the kitchen.  
  
He turned around so quickly you were almost sure he’d fall over. He had certainly not expected you to talk to him again.  
  
_I really am the worst._  
  
Seemingly unsure of how to talk to you, he settled for: “Yes, (Y/N)-chan? Did you need something?”  
“Listen, before we get down to dinner service, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. My behavior was uncalled for, rude and petty, and I want you to know that I regret it. Your desert tasted delicious.”  
You tried to finish off your sentence by giving him the most genuine smile you could muster.  
  
He was clearly shocked, his mouth hanging open for a second while he stared at you. It was kind of… _cute  
  
Wait, what? (Y/N), stop!_  
  
“I’m happy to hear that (Y/N)-chan, but you didn’t need to apologize. You-“  
“Yes, yes I did.” you quickly said, not wanting him to be nice again only for you to feel even worse. “So… friends?” you asked him, holding out your hand for him to shake it.  
He once again seemed taken aback, but recovered more quickly this time, shaking your hand while smiling widely at you.  
“Friends”, he said.  
  
You both quickly made your way down to the kitchen afterwards, and you couldn’t help but notice a warm, pleasant feeling arising in your stomach.  
  
  
  
  
**During dinner service…**  
  
  
You didn’t know what was wrong with you. You’d thought if you apologized to Sanji, you’d find it easier to concentrate on the competition again, but apparently, you’d been wrong.  
  
Ever since service had started, your thoughts kept drifting back to the smile he’d given you. You also kept on wondering why he’d stopped flirting with any of the other girls on set, and why he’d made his desert specifically for you.  
  
Could he… _actually, genuinely like you?_  
  
But then, you remembered how horribly you’d treated him. Surely, he wouldn’t be interested anymore after what you’d said to him...  
  
When you weren’t thinking about him, you kept sneaking glances over to him, since he was working right beside you.  
  
The way he delicately handled the food and how serious he looked while he cooked was…  
_oh screw it_, it was definitely attractive.  
  
You’d scolded yourself for having such thoughts before, but now you couldn’t deny it anymore.  
  
You were crushing on him. Hard.  
  
Maybe you’d been in denial from the get-go, or this was just a reaction to the way he’d behaved the last couple of days.  
  
Either way, you were royally screwed.  
  
Because just like you’d thought right from the beginning, every distraction, no matter how beautiful, blonde and charming, proofed to be fatal in the end.  
  
While you'd been watching at Sanji, you’d unkowingly completely overcooked your Mahi-mahi. And since your thoughts were anywhere but in the present, you’d actually sent the burnt fish to the front desk without noticing the state it was in.  
You paid for your mistake immediately.  
  
“WHICH ONE OF YOU DONKEYS JUST SENT ME BURNT MAHI-MAHI?!” head chef and judge Graham shouted. “DO you even KNOW how EXPENSIVE this fish is? Am I supposed to send THIS” – he held up the burnt fish for all contestants to see – “to my customers? WHO sent it?”  
  
  
_This was it. Your dream was over, and all because you’d been stupid enough to become infatuated with a fellow contestant. A fellow contestant who didn’t even like you back because you’d treated him horribly, which was also your fault because you were just too stubborn and OH NO, what was your Grandma going to say? What were you going to tell-_  
  
  
“I sent it, Chef. I’m sorry.”  
  
  
You were too shocked to say anything.  
  
Sanji had just covered for you, even though he must’ve known it was your mistake.  
  
“YOU sent it?” Chef Graham repeated, clearly as surprised by the blonde’s confession as you, although for very different reasons. “You excel at every challenge but then go on to make such a ROOKIE MISTAKE?!” he asked, clearly agitated.  
“I was distracted, I apologize, chef.” Sanji answered.  
“Oh God…” the judge groaned.  
  
“Sanji, b-but it was me-“ you whispered, but he quickly interruped you, holding up his hand.  
“It’s okay (Y/N)-chan. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, giving you the same smile as before. It was making your heart beat faster and ache at the same time.  
  
Before you could say anything else to him, however, Chef Graham had apparently made his decision, as he said: “Sanji, get out of the kitchen for the rest of service. I’ll decide what to do with you afterwards.”  
  
Loud gasps could be heard from the other contestants while Sanji made his way out, as what the head chef had just said basically confirmed Sanji would be the one eliminated tonight.  
  
  
  
  
**Later in the evening…**  
  
  
Since the rest of you had managed to succesfully complete dinner service without any further mistakes, the judges had chosen to eliminate Sanji, who had taken it gracefully, thanking them before going up to his room to pack up his stuff.  
  
As soon as the head chefs had dismissed you, you hurried upstairs to go and talk to him.  
You found him in his room while he was carefully folding up some of his shirts to fit in his suitcase.  
  
“Sanji, thank god you’re still here. Listen, I need to talk to you.”  
“(Y/N)-chan.” He said, seemingly surprised – and happy – to see you before he left.  
You closed the door behind you to give the both of you some privacy.  
  
“Sanji, why did you DO that? I-I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I treated you so horribly before and I just don’t understand why-“  
  
“Do you really not know by now?” he asked you, his voice suddenly lower and huskier than before. It made you nervous. It made you _blush_.  
  
Not able to face him directly in your flustered state, your eyes settled on the floor before you answered: “I… think I do, yes. I just wouldn’t have thought… you know.”  
  
He chuckled quietly. “I know you’re not interested in me in that way, (Y/N)-chan. I just wanted to show you that this wasn’t a game to me or somethine like that. I didn’t want you to think of me that way. So you don’t have to feel bad about me leaving, (Y/N)-chan. There are things more important than this.”  
  
His words made your heart beat faster as you felt an overwhelming urge to throw caution to the wind and just hug him.  
  
_Oh no. Everything your roommates had said was true. You were turning into a walking cliché.  
  
Goddamnit._  
  
He continued: “That first night, when all of us talked about why we’re here and what this means to us… the way you talked about cooking with your grandma when you were younger and how your eyes lit up just then… I thought holy shit, that’s it, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…  
But I’m sorry- I- got carried away, I’m making you uncomfortable. I’ll just pack this up and leave, so you won’t have to-“  
  
You couldn’t take it anymore. Your body moving on autopilot, you quickly walked over to him and pressed your lips against his, placing your hands around his neck.  
  
You could feel him tense up, clearly surprised and shocked by your actions, but then he quickly put his arms around your smaller form, pulling you closer to him while deepening the kiss. Sooner rather than later, his tongue was softly begging for entrance at your lower lip, which you granted him without hesitation, letting him tentatively explore your mouth.  
  
If someone had told you two weeks ago that you’d be kissing Sanji, of all people, that you’d be _falling for_ Sanji, you’d laughed at them and flipped them off. Now, in his arms, you couldn’t remember ever feeling as good as this before.  
  
His soft hands started caressing your neck, causing you to moan into his mouth as you qickly reciprocated the action. After a while of losing yourselves in each others kisses, you parted for a much needed intake of breath.  
  
He leaned his forehead against yours as both of you couldn’t stop smiling.  
  
“But Sanji- what about the prize money?”  
  
“You’re still in the competition, remember, (Y/N)-chan? You’ll win. I already won my first prize, anyway.”

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out way longer and way fluffier than planned, but i hope you still liked it.  
After watching the WCI arc in the anime for the first time, i just felt like showing poor Sanji some love.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading.<3


End file.
